Details of the public design competition for the official mascot of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be released in mid-May, the games' organizing committee said Monday.

A panel to decide the selection process for the mascot met for the eighth and last time and after 17 total hours of deliberation by the 15-member team, the first steps for the competition will finally be taken next month.

The Tokyo Olympic mascot is set to be unveiled in the summer of 2018.

"We went over the criteria for the competition and the selection process for the last time," said Yoshiko Ikoma, the vice chair of the panel. "We are waiting for final word (from the International Olympic Committee), but the feedback so far has been generally positive."

"We want a wide range of people to take part in the competition, from experienced professionals to those among the general public with future potential."

After the competition ends -- the deadline has yet to be announced -- the panel will whittle the list down to three or four finalists upon registering trademark rights, as organizers did with the official emblem.

The competition will welcome all comers including children, who can apply with a guardian. Designs must be drafted from six different angles with various expressions and poses, as well as a narrative for the mascot.

Feedback from children will be taken into account once the finalists are determined, although how and when were not announced Monday.

Ikoma said she expects the 2020 mascot to be ground-breaking.

"Japan is a massive nation of mascots and characters," she said. "I like to think this will be the start of something entirely new for mascots."